Apparently computer passwords have benn stolen from MSN accounts across Korea the past few days:

Password-stealing software planted by hackers was active on Microsoft’s popular MSN Web site in South Korea for days before the world’s largest software company learned about the break-in and removed the computer code.

Police investigators and Microsoft specialists are continuing to search for clues to the culprits behind this week’s high-profile computer break-in. More details emerged Friday about the hacking, which targeted subscribers of an online game called “Lineage” that is popular in Asia.

So the hackers stole a bunch of Lineage passwords. In Korea this is cause for a national emergency. I would stay away from internet cafes here for a few days because there are going to be some pissed off people in them when they learn there leveled up character they have spent months working on has been erased or stolen.

Another US Army installation closed down last week in Uijongbu. Camp LaGuardia is located near the center of Uijongbu and it is a good thing that the decision to close the camp was made. When the camp was first built after the Korean War it sat in a small village surrounded by rice paddies. Now the rice paddies have been replaced by high rise buildings and bumper to bumper traffic. All the traffic and pedestrians make it a dangerous location for military traffic.

With the closing of the camp, the city of Uijongbu plans on building a much needed new expressway through the land and also to make a city park there. I hope they do build the park and do not give in to developers who want to make more high rises. The park will really be a bonus for the people who live in the central area of Uijongbu.

In Pusan plans are also being made to shut down Camp Hialeah, which sits in the middle of Pusan. Camp Hialeah needs to be shut down just like Camp LaGuardia did. The surrounding city has expanded so much around the camp that it is just not feasible to have the camp at its present location.

By the end of this year all of 2ID will be consolidated on three camps, Camp Casey/Camp Hovey in Dongducheon and Camp Red Cloud and Camp Stanley in Uijongbu. This is actually a quite a big change considering soldiers used to be spread out on about 20 different camps before the consolidation decision was made. It is a good choice to close the camps due to the changing attitudes and demographics of the surrounding Korean population. The ultimate goal is to have all USFK soldiers consolidated around Osan and Pyongtaek. There is a lot of politics involved in that decision compared to the 2ID base consolidation that could delay the time when that moves actually occurs.

The residents in the surrounding communities especially Dongducheon are not to eager to see the soldiers go due to the economic impact. There have been plenty of past protests from USFK labor unions and more coming up this week. It will be interesting to see how this plays out but the decision to move the bases down south will ultimately have to be made by the Korean government once they sort out the political implications.

Japan has been working hard to meet the energy requirements layed out by the UN’s Kyoto Protocol:

Even though Japan is already among the most frugal countries in the world, the government recently introduced a national campaign, urging the Japanese to replace their older appliances and buy hybrid vehicles, all part of a patriotic effort to save energy and fight global warming. And big companies are jumping on the bandwagon, counting on the moves to increase sales of their latest models.

On the Matsushita appliance showroom floor these days, the numbers scream not the low, low yen prices, but the low, low kilowatt-hours.

It is good to see the Japan is trying to improve energy efficiency. According to the NY Times article other nations are also working hard to improve energy efficiency. I only hope that my own country jumps on the band wagon to improve energy consumption in the coming years.

Today is the 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Simon’s World has a great posting to commemorate this tragedy. Here is a preview:

There’s plenty that could change. The CCP plays a delicate balancing game between socio-economic tensions and its grip on power. What’s worse is it is good at it. But without the effective feedback mechanisms that democracy provides the powers-that-be need to hope they remain good at the game. It will only take one slip for the edifice to come crashing down. Which is why in situations like June 4th, 1989, the CCP is likely to err on the side of crackdown and confrontation. There’s no upside in compromise and they hold the guns.

The CCP has a clear desire to remain in power at all costs. Democracy and freedom is not an inevitability for China. That’s the legacy of Tiananmen Square.

I couldn’t agree more.

On Oranckay’s blog he brings up a theory due to the recent stand off in the East Sea between the South Korean and Japanese Coast Guards, that detaining people is some what more acceptable in Korean culture compared to the US or Japan. He uses the 2002 USFK soldier abduction incident as an example:

Reminds me of the subway incident with some USFK soldiers in 2002. In my view the incident was a series of cross-cultural misunderstandings. I’ve met Suh Kyung Won personally on a few occasions and his public behavior over the years does make me believe that he probably touched one of the three US soldiers in one way or another, as he is accused of doing. No responsible public figure wants to be seen with him anymore, and he likes to make a scene and make himself a victim at demonstrations. But a man of his age can physically push a young man around in Korea, or at least do it and not then get a violent response, which appears to be what he got from the soldiers.

Americans think that once someone touches you you are authorized to unleash more than is necessary to merely get out of the situation. Angered by that, the students accompanying Suh dragged one of the soldiers on to the campus of nearby Kyunghee University to make him “apologize.” Well knowing that a US soldier had been taken by Korean students somewhere against his will, the riot police outside the school still chose not to raid the campus and rescue the guy. Like I’m saying, Koreans just don’t think “detaining” someone to make a point is full-fledged kidnapping or hostage taking, and the police, being Korean, knew instinctively that the soldier would be coming back soon enough. It was not worth breaching the unwritten rules of engagement that exists between students and riot police.

I’m convinced Mr. Suh intentionally provoked the fight in order to start an incident for his own propaganda purposes which he succeeded in doing. Oranckay is right that in American culture if some one slaps you or hits you, you feel you have the right to self defense. We brief soldiers that if a Korean national is trying to provoke a fight with you to walk away. If someone is comfortable enough to provoke a fight they probably got plenty of “concerned citizens” to help them out. “Concerned citizens” is Korean media code talk for an unrulely mob. The best thing to do in this situation is to swallow your pride and walk away. We use the 2002 subway incident as a perfect example of why you should do this. If those guys would of just walked away they may have been able to avoid the incident that happened.

We also brief the soldiers on the Shinchon Stabbing incident. That soldier was getting beat down by a mob so he pulled a knife out to defend himself and in the process seriously injured one of the Koreans involved in the melee. The soldier involved I have actually spoke with before and he maintains that the group he was with was assaulted by the “concerned citizens” after getting in a drunken arguement with them and that he pulled out the knife in self defense after the mob became to big and violent and had their own weapons. Carrying a knife in America is no big deal, here it is. In Korea if you pull out a knife their cultural norms treat it as if he pulled out a gun on someone in America.

Who knows who started the fight but the soldiers involved were wrong for being in the off limits area past curfew to begin with. That is why we have these policies to begin with to prevent stupid stuff like this from happening. So because of his stupidity he got convicted for attempted murder and got 3.5 years in ROK prison. He probably wishes he kept that knife at home now. However, in this incident the soldiers that did not pull out the knife were also detained by the Koreans on the scene and beaten. No Koreans were ever charged in this incident that I know of.

On the opposite end of the spectrum here is an incident where “concerned citizens” should of helped detain a violent Korean male who had just killed a US Army Major. Two officer friends of the Major held down the attacker while the crowd looked on and tried to take the murder weapon away from the soldier who secured it. No effort was made by the “concerned citizens” to help detain the attacker until two more US Army soldiers walked up to the scene and offered to help hold down the murderer so the other two officers could begin first aid on the Major.

So you have a case where a Korean guy is hit in the nose by GI after the Korean guy provoked the fight and three soldiers are detained and beaten.

Then you have another case where a soldier pulled out a knife and cut a Korean involved in the melee on the neck and he and everyone with him is detained and beaten.

But when a US Army Major is murdered no “concerned citizens” step in and help detain the murderer. The murderer wasn’t detained until two Americans arrive and held down the murderer. Who knows maybe if some of the “concerned citizens” stepped in and helped to immediately detain the murderer the other officers who were trained medical professionals may have been able to help perform first aid on the Major in time to help save his life.

Then in another interesting side note LTC Steven Boylan who was the 8th US Army spokesman was attacked and stabbed in a subway station near Yongsan while traveling to work. No “concerned citizens” bothered to detain his attackers either.

So I think that the detention issue in Korea is not really a cultural norm but a legal problem. If certain Koreans feel that they will not be prosecuted for detaining and harming foreigners than that is encouraging them to do just that. The “concerned citizens” on the subway kidnapped the soldiers off the train because they knew they could use them for propaganda purposes and could get away with it because the police would do nothing to them. It is the same thing with the fishing boat that detained the two Japanese Coast Guard personnel. Those fishermen know they aren’t going to get in any real trouble for what they did.

So with all the complaints that the SOFA is unfair I have decided to join the bandwagon and agree that it is unfair too, but not in the way most people think. I propose that when Koreans commit crimes against US soldiers they should be sent to US military courts. Seems fair to me because that is only way these kooks that commit kidnapping, assaults, destruction of property, and even murder of USFK personnel will receive proper punishment. The saddest thing about this though, is that very few Koreans even know about the kidnappings, assaults, and murder of US soldiers to begin with.

However, with all of this, the best policy if you are an American soldier in Korea is to swallow your pride and walk away. That would avoid many problems here to begin with.

In response to comments about the lack of Asian male news anchors I have decided to do some research on this subject. The first place I checked out was TV news stations in LA because I remember seeing an Asian male news anchor on the news there. Guess what I found him. On ABC7 in LA they have a male news anchor Rob Fukuzaki. Then in San Francisco on KRON4 they have an award winning Asian male reporter Vic Lee. Here is a quick list of his notable accomplishments:

Lee’s reporting has earned local and national recognition. He was honored with the prestigious George Polk Award of Journalism for Best Local Reporting for “Clean Rooms, Dirty Secrets,” a 1985 investigative news series on hidden health hazards in Silicon Valley’s semiconductor industry. “Clean Rooms, Dirty Secrets” also received a Best Investigative Reporting award from the Associated Press (AP).

Lee has won local Emmy awards for Best Writing, Best News Story, Best Series, Best Specialized Reporting, and Best Multi-Part Feature from the Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). Other awards include: Best Spot News Story from United Press International (UPI); Best Live Coverage, Best Investigative and Best Enterprise awards from the AP; Best Television Enterprise Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ); and Best TV Reporting, Unlimited Subject Matter and Asian American Issues national awards from the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

Then I found Robert Handa who is on KTVU News in San Francisco. He is another award winning reporter and anchor for that station. Here is some of his recognitions:

During his career, Handa has won numerous awards including:
an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Investigative Reporting
a UPI Western Regional Award for Best News Reporting
an Associated Press Award for Best Documentary
two awards from RTNDA (Radio Television News Directors Association) for Best Live/Breaking News and Best Multi-Part Series
California School Boards Association for Best Education Reporting
Handa has won several national journalism awards including top prizes from the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) as well as a first place award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

In addition, Handa was given the ‘Community Star’ award from Asian Americans for Community Involvement ( AACI) and the first-ever ‘Media Excellence’ award from the South Bay Islamic Association.

I’m beating a dead horse here now, but Asian male news broadcasters do exist. Asian males are much fewer and far between than Asian females though. During my research I was actually surprised by the amount of Asian female reporters out there compared to Asian males. Here is some more interesting data I uncovered in a USA Today article:

An Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) study last year found that 86 Asian-American women but only 20 men were employed on the air in the USA’s top 25 markets. The ratio was even more lopsided among news anchors: Thirteen women held such jobs in those markets; only one man did.

So in the top 25 news markets there are 86 Asian female reporters. That is over three Asian female reporters per market but less than one Asian male reporter per market.

So what can be the cause of the disparity between Asian female and Asian male reporters? Could it be that not enough Asian males are studying journalism and broadcasting? If so why? Or are news stations racist against Asian males? I don’t think that is the case because there are many hispanics and African-Americans on the news. Alright Asian males out there you are more qualified to answer this question than I am. I’m interested to hear what you think.

My prior posting about the Daniel Hong article has caused some interesting debate across the Korean blogosphere. Make sure to check out The Marmot’s comments section on this issue and also Jodi from the Asia Pages provides her views on this issue. Finally, Plunge provides a link to a funny sight dedicated to bitter Asian men worth checking out.

Here is a few of the things that have been learned. We have learned that Daniel Hong is not only a racist but is also a plagiarist. He directly took paragraph six of his article from this LA Times review of Ms. Prasso’s book. Also Mr. Hong apparently worked for the Korea Times for awhile before moving to Seattle for whatever reason. We have also learned that there are many other Daniel Hong’s out there with an axe to grind against western men dating their women. I just love the fact how some of these anti-western man commenters act like they own their Asian women like a piece of property. I personally am not offended if an American woman dates an Asian man, black man, hispanic man, or someone with poka dots. I really don’t care. It is their personal decision to date whom ever the choose. So Mr. Hong if you get a date with an American woman I’m not going to call you someone at the bottom of the food chain. I’ll wish you good luck and hope it works out.

Anyway definitely check out the different comments sections for some interesting debate but I stand by my reasoning that if you are an Asian male that is so offended by Asian women dating western men then that is saying more about you then it does about me.

The Chosun Ilbo is reporting that the US Air Force’s stealth bombers will come to Korea every year on a rotational basis:

The F-117 will carry out exercises here for four to six months a year, a strategy that would boost the U.S. Forces in Korea’s fighting strength no less than if they were based here permanently and is therefore expected to draw protests from North Korea.

Kim said besides normal training, pilots would also familiarize themselves with the terrain of the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. Air Force rotates its F-117s in areas of strategic importance worldwide.

With the cancelling of the program that finds Korean War casualties remains in North Korea and the deployment of the stealth bombers; Washington is definitely turning up the pressure on Pyongyang.

The 3,000 soldiers of the ROK Army’s Zaytun Unit serving in Northern Iraq alledgedly came under mortar attack from Iraqi insurgents, marking the first direct attack against Korean forces since the start of their deployment.

Korea’s Zaytun Division in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil took cover late Sunday evening when four shells presumably fired by insurgents landed near the unit’s base compound, the first direct attack on Korean troops since they were deployed to the area last September. There were no casualties among Korean soldiers or civilians, but the division’s activity is likely to be curtailed for some time.

(…)

A JCS official said, “Insurgent forces are presumed to have fled immediately after launching vehicle-carried rockets and mortars about 4-5 km away from the base walls.” Kurdish militia forces have set up checkpoints and are patrolling the area 3-5 km outside the base walls.

(…)

Immediately after the incident, the Zaytun Division beefed up security and took shelter in underground entrenchments. At 11:40 p.m., U.S. helicopters started searching the area.

The incident follows suspension of the Zaytun Division’s civil operations after a May 4 car bombing of a police recruitment station in downtown Irbil and intelligence of possible attacks on Korean troops. Meanwhile, political controversy is also possible over whether to accept a UN request for Korean troops to guard an office of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) being constructed in downtown Arbil.

Let me get this right, 3,000 ROK Army soldiers have been completely neutralized by four mortar rounds that landed 500 meters from their camp? These soldiers do not conduct any operations within the city because of a car bombing that occured three months ago not even directed against them, they don’t guard their own camp; the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters do that, and they don’t want to guard a UN building in Arbil. So what do they do over there?

This is something I have been wondering about since the beginning of the deployment. I have been against this deployment since it was first initiated because I have had reservations about if Korea would actually carry out meaningful reconstruction. The Kurdish people may be feeling the same way now.

The Kurdish Peshmerga keep tight security over there for the ROK Army causing me to wonder if this mortar attack is nothing more than the Kurds sending the Koreans a message to quit playing Starcraft and to get off their base and do something or get the heck out of here. The Peshmerga are tough, battle hardened, & proud group of fighters and they cannot be to impressed by these 3,000 Korean soldiers hiding inside their base doing nothing after Korea promised reconstruction and all the Kurds got to show for it is a few new toilets.

Dropping a few mortar rounds is well used tactic over there against American forces if the locals feel they are not receiving the reconstruction aid they believe they are due. I was on an airbase over there for awhile when a bunch of Iraqis that worked on the base were fired by the new incoming commander for security reasons. The base had never been mortared before but the next day the mortar rounds started coming in. Not close enough to kill anyone but close enough to send a message. Two weeks later Iraqis were working on the airfield again and the mortaring stopped. Sound familiar?

According to the Chinese Xinhua News Agency full body tatoos are a growing fad in Japan. I really hope this is one fad that does not make it to Korea.